Preparing for Intensification.

Intensification of crop production can be viewed as either the solution to meeting the challenges of the coming decades or part of the problem, being responsible for an expanding environmental footprint of agriculture. Which view is held is greatly influenced by one’s perception of intensification and whether intensification incorporates a balanced set of system performance indicators or only encompasses yield enhancement. Preparing for intensification of crop production seems to be an important step for individual farmers and for agriculture as a whole. That preparation needs to occur in at least three places: in the field, on the farm beyond the field, and in the city. Preparation in all three places is facilitated by precision technologies and approaches as the technology and concepts involved have the potential for not only improving performance of farming systems, but also our ability to communicate that improvement to a diverse set of stakeholders with wide-ranging concerns and priorities. A learning community, such as the one that organized this symposium, is an excellent venue for advancing this preparation process.